Pols: We're almost being stalked

More than four dozen House members from both parties will tell party leaders Thursday that it’s time to put a halt to the increasingly invasive tactics of campaign trackers.

“Over the last few election cycles, the use of trackers has increased. Sometimes it even borders on stalking,” a letter to be delivered to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) states. “We believe filing candidates, sometimes with hidden cameras, while they take care of routine family activities like grocery shopping and posting videos of their private residences is a step too far.”

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Reps. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) said he and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the authors, had collected around 50 signatures — about 35 Republicans and 15 Democrats — as of Wednesday night for the missive. It came in response to a POLITICO story last month that revealed Democratic trackers have been filming the homes of Republican members and candidates and placing the raw footage on YouTube.

Members called the tactic a gross invasion of privacy. And they said it created a safety risk for them and their families at a time when they are already on edge after a deranged gunman shot former Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January 2011.

In June, a 38-second clip of Ribble’s northeastern Wisconsin home appeared online. The soundless video, which appears to be taken from a car sitting just outside the house, pans across the large home and shows it from several angles.

Ribble said the ensuing backlash from the story — he said he was approached by many lawmakers, including Kucinich, who expressed concern — persuaded him to make a firm bipartisan statement. The freshman said his wife felt uncomfortable being alone in their house during the day.

“Members of Congress pay for these House campaign arms, and it’s appropriate for them to say, ‘Enough is enough,” Ribble said. “Both sides were very concerned about it.”

Ribble and Kucinich have been passing around the letter on the House floor this week asking colleagues from both parties for their support.

“This ‘nonstop’ ratcheting up of this tactic leads to what? And that is exactly our concern — that in an effort to inform, it has escalated to an effort to intimidate,” Ribble and Kucinich’s letter adds. “We are concerned about where this leads and where it might end. The safety of our families and neighbors matters to us and it should matter to you, too.”

The DCCC has stood by its practice of filming homes and placing them on YouTube, arguing that it wants to cast House Republicans — especially those who are wealthy and have large homes — as out of touch with struggling American families. By placing the videos online, the DCCC is hoping that like-minded outside groups will use the footage in TV ads this fall.

The NRCC has said it is against protocol for their trackers to record Democratic members or candidates in private spaces.

CORRECTION: The original version of this story misstated the NRCC’s tracking policy.